


Brighter than Sunshine ~ Volume 1, Chapter 15 "Hospitalized"

by Cassie_Sandsmark, Somuchbraver



Series: Brighter Than Sunshine Volume 1 [15]
Category: DCU
Genre: Bisexual Female Character, DC AU Freeform, DC Cinematic Universe Freeform, F/F, Female-Centric, Femslash, Implied Sexual Content, Metropolis, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-17
Updated: 2016-06-17
Packaged: 2018-07-14 13:59:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7174646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cassie_Sandsmark/pseuds/Cassie_Sandsmark, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Somuchbraver/pseuds/Somuchbraver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A very brief update of this ongoing story concludes at the hospital where Lois begins to warm into her role as parental guide to teenage metahumans by stumbling on secrets the girls would rather she not know. Samantha is starting to understand exactly what dating a superhero entails and wondering if she'll survive it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brighter than Sunshine ~ Volume 1, Chapter 15 "Hospitalized"

**Author's Note:**

> This story is about a romantic relationship between Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandsmark) and Rule 63'd (female) version of 'Superboy.' We've omitted the majority of the Superfamily from our universe to make this work and put this story 10 years after the events in Man of Steel. 'Superman' has been active for at least that long, and Cassie herself (as Wonder Girl) has been active for a little over 3 years, since she was 15.
> 
> Follow Our Tumblr at (http://brighterthnsunshine.tumblr.com/) for fan-art, photo manips, information related to our story as it progresses, and more!
> 
> Mission Statement: Lady superheroes need to make out more.

## Brighter than Sunshine ~ Volume 1, Chapter 15 "Hospitalized"

[Brighter than Sunshine Tumblr](http://brighterthnsunshine.tumblr.com)

The ride to Met Gen was short from the park. Traffic near the park had mostly shut down during the fight, and the ambulance had an easy path. Cassie wasn't in any immediate mortal danger during the trip, but she was unconscious, bleeding from two places, had suffered a broken rib, and in some places her skin was pretty badly burned. Along the ride, Lois chatted on her phone to her editor, convincing him to bump the official WGBS report from the Planet's Evening line up and to run her unedited footage instead. When they pulled into the hospital, the stretcher crew was met by a small detachment of police who looked wet and angry, having just come from the park. With them was the police commissioner, who was just about spitting with rage over his pilot program's public humiliation. But just as the officers prepared to seize the stretcher and place the unconscious superhero under arrest, Dan Turpin walked in the emergency room door flanked by a number of a his division's officers, surrounding the stretcher and the two women accompanying it as it was wheeled into an observation room. The commissioner snarled when he saw Turpin, but he also held his men back, not willing to try and risk losing another very public confrontation. Samantha had a tight grip on the stretcher as they wheeled it inside, ready to put up a fight should anyone ask her what her relationship to the patient was. As it turned out, they were so busy defending her from the police that she didn't have to say anything at all. She was past worrying about whether or not they were doing the right thing to keep Cassie's identity secure, or what anyone knew about them, instead practicing pretty complete tunnel vision. Once Cassie was wheeled into an isolated room, Turpin and his men took up stations outside, drinking coffee and chit-chatting about department scuttlebutt. There was a subtle undertone of tension in their chat, though. Everyone outside of Cassie's room knew they had crossed a line by defying the police commissioner and Lexcorp, and everyone was wondering what the response to their defiance would be. Meanwhile, inside the room, the doctors were busy examining Cassie, checking her wounds. After a little poking and prodding, however, the last doctor, an older black woman with a full head of white hair, stepped back and addressed Lois - and Samantha, although mostly everyone was uncertain who the black-haired girl was or what she was doing there. Lois' continued defense of both girls confused Samantha even while she remained extremely grateful for it.Whenever they asked, Lois just said 'Family' - informing them that there was nothing wrong with Cassandra physically that shouldn't heal right with a bit of rest, and that the speed with which she recovered would be largely dependent on her metahuman abilities.

Lois thanked the doctor and got her out of the room, throwing herself down into a chair opposite of Samantha's, raising an eyebrow at the pretty young woman. "...you doin' alright, kiddo?"

Samantha leaned against the wall near the head of Cassie's bed when the room emptied out, glancing over at the older woman. "I'm hanging in there." She glanced over at Cassie and frowned a little at her girlfriend's unconscious form. "Is it always like this?"

Lois frowned, turning her head to regard the blonde girl in the bed. "...not always," she admitted, quietly, "but more often than I'd like. Usually they seem so... indestructible. But not all the time."

Samantha shook her head. "I am so incredibly useless. I don't know what I'm supposed to do, or say..." She ran her hands through her hair. "I was so happy to not even have to think about any of this stuff."

Lois grimaced sympathetically. "You know," she said, quietly, lowering her eyes. "You don't have to." She tipped her head towards the door. "There's nothing wrong in wanting your old life back. And if you're not sure, but you'd like some time to think about it, well..." she shrugged. "She doesn't have to know you were ever here."

Sam couldn't help but give a little smirk, glancing sideways at Lois before her eyes returned to Cassie. "I'm in pretty deep. I just- lived in this city my whole life really content to just ignore all the hero stuff and now I'm thinking about it and having thoughts..."

"Thoughts like...'why is my mom trying to pound my girlfriend into ground hamburger, even after said girlfriend saved mom's life?'" Lois fired back with a wry grin, shaking some of the dust out of her long brown hair.

Samantha chuckled softly and shook her head. "No, I know the answer to that question. I lived with her for seventeen years."

Lois grinned, cocking her head to the side and shaking it back and forth in confusion. "...well, if you wanna feel useful," she pointed out, gently, "I'm sure there's a museum collection curator who would love to get a phone call from you right now."

Samantha's eyes went wide. "Oh shit, yeah. Yeah, duh." She pulled her cell phone out of her coat pocket and found Cassie's mom's number, dialing it.

Cassie's mom answered the phone on the second ring. "...Samantha? How's Cassandra? Is she alright? Is she badly hurt?"

Sam leaned into the earpiece, a bit stilted but steady. "She's fine. She's just resting. The doctors checked her out and okayed her and everything, so we're just letting her sleep it off."

"Oh good, ohhhh that's good news. I saw on the cameras that she wasn't moving, and I was worried that maybe..." Helena took a deep breath. "…you're with her now?"

Samantha glanced over at Cassie next to her in the bed and frowned a little, walking around and leaning on the foot of the bed as she talked to her mother. "I am. She pushed it pretty hard but she'll be okay."

Helena took in and then released a slow, shuddering breath. "...well, I'm just glad you're there with her," she said quietly. "I can't get anywhere near there, even if I thought it wouldn't expose her. There's a huge crowd outside." She took another breath and then steadied herself. "...how are you doing, sweetheart?"

Samantha nodded, even though Helena couldn't see it. She paused at the second question, her whole body giving a little sway. "I'm fine, I didn't really even- I'm- uh- sorry about all this."

"Sorry? What do you have to be sorry for? You didn't do anything wrong Samantha. I'm just ...I'm very, very happy that she has you with her right now. I'm very glad you're there."

Sam nodded again, glancing back at the blonde in the hospital bed. "Yeah, I know. You're right," she said, reflexively, to Helena's assertion. She was wrong though. Maybe technically she did the smartest thing for the situation, but there was nothing technical about Cassie's injuries. She forced a smile through the phone. "Me too. I'll see her home safe."

"Good girl. Listen, honey, I'm going to go sit down for a while and ...and have a drink. You take it easy okay? Thank you for calling, I was hoping I might hear from you."

Samantha gave a little actual smile at Helena's admission and nodded again, a reflexive habit when she was talking to 'capital A Adults.' "I will, thanks." She hung up, taking a few steps and then sitting down next to the door.

Lois was watching as Samantha sat down, her eyebrows raised and her eyes warm, but calculating. "...how did you of all people wind up with..." she jerked her head at the golden haired girl in the bed. "I mean, I know you go to school together, but..." she shrugged. "You seem so turned off by all of..." she waved her hand around vaguely, "this stuff."

Samantha frowned a little, feeling like that really wasn't the case. It may have once been the case, but now she was thinking about this sort of thing more often than not. All of her studies seemed to come down to Cassie, or practical hero applications just lately. "I guess... her zeal is kind of, catching? I just- it's dangerous and thankless but-" Samantha frowned a little, looking across the bed, her head slowly turning toward an idea that everything about her upbringing resisted. "It’s not as pointless as I thought it was."

The corner of Lois' mouth hitched up slightly. "...even if it winds her up in hospital beds sometimes?"

Samantha frowned at the offending hospital bed, speaking without thinking, because Lois took her off guard in a pretty fundamental way. "This didn't need to happen. I could have stopped it from happening."

Lois' head jerked a bit, and her eyes narrowed. "...how, exactly? I mean, short of physically dragging her down and sitting on her, I don't know what you could have done to talk her out of going back out there once she was conscious enough to decide to do so, and unless you're hiding some secret reserves of super strength, I don't know how you could pull that off--" suddenly she stopped, her eyes darting to the side, and one eyebrow raising as her mind began working. "-oh. That-" she frowned, and then smirked, laughing, sitting back and blinking rapidly. "That would explain a lot."

Samantha realized what she'd said much too late and froze, staring her down as Lois' acute mind tumbled toward the inevitable conclusion. There was nothing she could do. She was practicing the kind of 'if I don't move she won't see me' toddler logic that a person fell back on in times of special distress. Her whole existence was built upon the precipice of that one single secret, and she had walked this near stranger right into it. In the moment she realized what Lois realized, the color drained out of her face.

"I suppose that, looking back, it makes sense," Lois was musing, her voice low and intimate, as she fixed her eyes on Samantha. "She was so dodgy and careful in the ways that she referred to you that- well, you don't have a secret identity to protect, not like she does, so... why? And then those bystander reports about the girl with black hair and blue eyes who saved so many people from the ice during the Frost incident last week- tearing car doors off and smashing ice with her bare hands. I was willing to chalk it up to crazy adrenaline rush, but..." she smirked at Sammi, shaking her head. "...it wasn't that at all, was it? You... you have superpowers. That's why you were hiding from your mother back at the park. She doesn't know, does she? And you don't want her to."

Suddenly, worrying about her mother finding out she was dating a girl seemed incredibly trite. It seemed like the most adolescent thing in world compared to the inevitability of her mother realizing she was a metahuman. She wobbled in her seat, her voice getting a little faint. "If you were me, would you?"

"No," Lois agreed with a smirk and a roll of her eyes. But then the smirk softened to a smile, and she glanced at the blonde girl in the bed. "...but then, I'm not dating the girl who just kicked your mother's ass."

Samantha raised her eyebrows at that, feeling strangely lighter now that her secret was outside her immediate control. Then she shrugged, casting her gaze askance. "Anyway, I shouldn't be looking very cozy with Wonder Girl if I'm also going to date her secret identity."

Lois laughed at that, charmed by the irony in that statement. "Oh, you might be surprised how familiar that sounds to me." She shook her head. "Look, I don't want to interfere in your love life, or in other aspects of your life." She smiled. "But... you're..." she hmmm'd as she tried to figure out how to put this. Leaning forward, she twitched her lips slightly as she tried to put this in a way the defensive and scared young woman she was talking to would understand. "You seem to be very afraid, and worried about what will happen when or if your secrets are exposed. You seem to think that you're all alone in this world, and that if you're exposed, you're vulnerable, and on your own. Well," she gestured to herself, 'zipping' her lips, "I'm not going to expose you, and I'm sure Cassandra would never intentionally expose your secrets, but if you keep having problems watching your superhero girlfriend throwing down with bad guys tough enough to seriously hurt her, like what happened today, then it's going to come out, eventually, but the point is-" she gestured over at Cassandra, "-whatever you were before, you're not alone anymore. I think that girl might walk through fire for you. And it's not just her, I've got your back too. Even if you were exposed, we'd figure it out."

Samantha's brow wrinkled and her bottom lip gave a little tremble, her frown deepening as she stiffened that lip. She met Lois' eyes and swallowed. "Thank you." She looked aside, a little embarrassed, and rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm not used to having people on my side."

Lois grinned. "Well, get used to it, kiddo. I think this one plans to hold on," she slapped the bed, and Cassie stirred, groaning slightly. "Oh, look, magic touch."

Cassie stirred for a few moments, turning her face towards the sound of Samantha's voice and smiling slowly, her lip already healing, a line of pink, new flesh covering her recent wound. Her eyes remained closed, but she whispered "...Ow."

Samantha smiled softly and pulled up the chair by the bedside, perching on the back of it, at Cassie's elbow. "Still pretty."

"Mmmmmm... Sammi?" Cassie's face blossomed into a smile as she croaked the name, her eyes flickering open as she winced, her ribs complaining when she drew breath. "...you're here?" She sounded surprised. When she drifted back into consciousness, she hadn't expected to find Samantha with her- Lois, maybe, or her mother, but Sammi? Wasn't she supposed to be avoiding these sorts of public associations? But she was touched and delighted all the same, and she showed it in her smile.

Sam gave a little smirk and brushed the hair away from Cassie's face. "Relax. We've got body guards here so I don't have to go anywhere for any reason." Lois' reassurance had bolstered her confidence and there was something wonderful about spreading her darkest secret three people wide.

Cassie's green eyes sharpened as they took in Samantha's face, still beautifully made up from their date earlier that evening, and she smiled even more broadly, closing her eyes and raising her hand to caress Samantha's cheek. "...thanks," she murmured, sighing happily.

Samantha kissed her palm, leaning against the side of the bed, enjoying the glow Cassie's ridiculously bright smile. "I got you."

Cassie's smile continued to glow, and her arm snaked up around Sammi's shoulder, tugging her down towards the bed. "...so did we win?"

"In a manner of speaking. You embarrassed the pants off of the commissioner, at least," Samantha said.

"Are the protesters safe?" Cassie's eyes came open again, suddenly filled with concern as she remembered the reason she'd gotten into a fight in Centennial Park in the first place.

Sam glanced at Lois. She hadn't been terribly concerned with much besides Cassie when they'd left the park. "They had the good cops on their side, and it seems like the riot cops broke up when you fried the last of the Lexcorp security."

Lois nodded at Samantha, confirming that what she'd said was correct. "You did a good job, kiddo," she said from next to the bed, and then she rose and headed out of the room, grinning from Cassie to Samantha as she opened the door. "Now you two... um..." she shrugged unhelpfully, "well, I'll let you have some privacy."

The blonde girl in the bed looked up and around at the sound of Lois' voice, then smiled as her older friend let herself out of the room, looking back at Samantha and tugging her towards the bed again. "Oh, look, she's gone. Now will you come and hold me?" She asked, chuckling and wincing as she laughed despite the pain in her ribs.

Samantha smirked in spite of herself, giving a little blush when Lois exited the room, waiting until the door was closed to crawl into bed with Cassie. She set her head down next to hers and slid an arm cautiously around the blonde. "I do not think I like your job."

Cassie smiled over at the pretty raven-haired girl, gazing tenderly into her eyes. "But you stuck with me when I was hurt, even when I said you should go and hide, get away from your mom. You stayed." She hissed as she raised her arms, but she wound them around Samantha's shoulders anyway.

Sam kissed her unmarked cheek and shrugged. "I'm sure I'll pay for that later, but later is later."

The blonde girl smiled, but she heard something in the tone of Samantha's voice that troubled her. There was a strange feeling of reserve in Samantha's voice, her touch, her body. When Cassie touched Samantha's back, she thought she could sense tension there, and it made her worried. Pulling her head back from Sammi's lips, the blonde girl blinked her eyelashes and raised an eyebrow at the other girl. "...is something wrong?"

Samantha shrugged. "I'm not down for a repeat of today, that's all. Ever." She gave a little sigh and slid her hand along her arm. "I know your fights are your fights but..."

Cassie's smile slipped. Her eyes shifted down and to the side. "...wait," she said, slowly, looking down at Sammi's hand, "...are you... mad at me?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I just don't get the whole superhero thing. Maybe if I had your back it wouldn't have mattered."

Cassie frowned, her eyes flinching slightly as she heard the words 'I don't know.' Cold shivers ran over her arms as her stomach clenched in worry and apprehension. "...I thought you'd understand," she whispered, a hint of hurt creeping into her voice, her eyes drooping, "After what you said you felt when you saved all those people from the ice on the day Frost attacked. How Important and right it is to use our abilities to help people." She lowered her eyes, biting her lip. "I thought that was how you had my back- by believing in me."

"I do, I mean- I'm on board with that. I'm not trying to say you shouldn't have gone out there, that's not what I'm trying to say." Samantha frowned, trying to collect her thoughts. She'd hoped the subject wouldn't even come up, but now that it had, she felt driven to continue. "You do your part, and I should have done as much too, but going back out there wounded like that- you scare the shit out of me."

"Oh," Cassie said, softly, the hurt vanishing and being replaced by guilty remorse. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," her shoulders sagged, and she sighed. "...you were really scared?"

As soon as she heard it out loud she felt sheepish, propping herself up on one elbow. "Maybe I don't have a very solid concept of how tough you are. But I can't help feeling like maybe you don't have a whole lot more understanding for your limits than I do."

The blonde girl was quiet for a moment, her eyelids heavy with sadness. Inside, she felt a confusing blend of emotions. Guilt, for having made Samantha worry, but also gladness that Samantha had been worried about her - worried enough to be upset at her for endangering herself. Of course, that only made her feel guiltier. "...I'm really, really sorry you were scared," she said, her hands absently playing with some of Samantha's low-hanging blue-black tresses. But the frown on her lips smoothed out into a tiny smile as she glanced up and admitted sheepishly that "...I'm also really really... glad you care enough to be scared."

Samantha laughed and laid her head down again, setting her cheek on her arm. "Well anyway, it's immaterial. Because next time I won't just stand and watch."

"You can't do that," Cassie argued softly, finding Samantha's eyes with her own. "You know you can't. Your whole life could fall apart. I'd rather you were mad at me for being reckless than have your life fall apart on you."

Samantha frowned thoughtfully, examining the other girl slowly, taking in each curve of her face as she spoke. "I know. But it is going to happen, Cassie. One way or another, all my secrets are going to come to light. I figured that out. It's inevitable." She wondered if that was the worst thing. She remembered the lightness she'd felt after accidentally exposing herself to Lois and wondered how bad things could possibly get.

Cassie's face fell again, her eyes glistening as she shook her head. "Why?" she asked plaintively, not at all accusatory, just sadly and with self-recrimination, "Because of me? Because of us? You went years without anyone knowing, and in two weeks with me you're all-but exposed?" She shook her head again, blinking away tears and sniffling. "No. That's not fair to you. I don't... I don't wanna be the thing that ruins your whole life."

Samantha touched her girlfriend's cheek and shook her head. "Even if we never met, what would my long-term plan have been? Super-powered CEO? Maybe losing control over that secret is part of becoming someone new, and I never would have even considered it before I met you."

Cassie ducked her head again, shaking it slowly and wiping drops of moisture from the corners of her eyes as she cursed herself inwardly. The fingers of one of her hands tangled up in Samantha's hair, and she took a long, slow, deep breath. "Sammi, I think," she shuddered as she breathed, "I think... I love you," she said finally, quietly, pressing the top of her head into Samantha's chest to hide her face, shivering with anxiety laced with feeling. "I don't want to hurt you, or make you mad, or ruin your life, or..." she paused for a moment, and then she blew a breath out of her nose, snorting, "well, I kinda want to pummel your mother into dust, but I won’t."

Sam blushed at that confession, not sure what to say. She felt as though she'd known for days that Cassie loved her, though she wasn't sure when it had occurred to her, but it was a different thing to hear it out loud. It made her chest ache a little and she slid her arms around her. She let her face drop into Cassie's hair, her eyes fluttering half closed. "You make my life so much more than I ever thought it could be."

The blonde girl's hands slid up Samantha's chest and into her hair, while she buried her face in her lover's chest. Her eyelashes fluttered when Samantha pressed her face against her hair, and she sighed, feeling sad and scared and happy and guilty all at once, but also wanted and cared for, and safe in Samantha's arms. She luxuriated in that feeling for a while, thinking quietly to herself. When she finally spoke again, she changed topics slightly, pulling her head back from Sammi's chest just enough to peer up at the bottom of her chin. "...so, good date, huh?"

Sam chuckled and kissed her forehead. "It has been a real rollercoaster, that's for sure."

Cass smiled, enjoying the feeling, and stroked her fingers through some of Samantha's hair. "I liked the trivia part best. And seeing your outfit for the first time."

Samantha grinned and cuddled in, but cautiously, wary of jostling her. "What about this outfit was a win, anyway? The copious cleavage? The tight pants?"

"Mmm, the pants are a major plus," Cassie admitted with a giggle, snuggling back in at Samantha (she covered a hiss with a wince and a wiggle as her ribs protested at the movement), "I am gonna have to get your butt into tight pants more often. But I couldn't see that when I got in the car, so I'd have to go with the boob shirt. I like your boobs." She kissed the bare spot on Sammi's chest above them demonstratively.

Samantha grinned. "Good thing we didn't meet in the summer, my shorts might have been the end of you."

Cassie groaned playfully, rolling her eyes. "You're a beautiful tease and a delight to watch walking by. I would have been a goner for sure."

She set her forehead against Cassie's and gave a little smile. "You should probably get some rest, you have a pretty important party to attend tomorrow."

"Mmmm," Cassie groaned in protest. "No, I don't wanna stay here. I want to go home with you. I don't..." She frowned, thinking fast. "...do you think you could get us out of here?"

Samantha shrugged and nodded. "We really wouldn't be here if I didn't have at least two exit plans."

The blonde girl laughed, lifting her arms around Samantha and holding her close against the other girl's neck. "Well, then, I guess I'd like to put myself in your hands, please." She kissed the juncture of Samantha's neck and shoulder. "Take me home, lover girl?"

Samantha smiled and picked her up, breaking the safety lock on the hospital window with two fingers before pushing it open, jumping nimbly out of the fourth story window. She was experimenting with landing, but she still displaced concrete when she landed, chipping the ground. She held Cassie close to her chest as she ran, pushing her speed a little as she made a scenic path back to campus.

Cassandra clung tightly to Samantha's neck and shoulders as her girlfriend carried her home, biting down on her lip and smothering her little whispers and hisses of pain as the trip disturbed her ribs. She was glad to be out of the hospital, though, despite the pain. Although it was late in occurring to the blonde teen, as they dashed through the streets of the city it suddenly popped into her mind that her own identity must be as good as done for now. She could never cheer again, that was for sure. She had to stay as far away from cameras as she could for the immediate future, or... well, someone would put it together, and then there'd be no more secret identities, nowhere to get away from the other life she was living now, the one that came with guns and people who wanted to beat her into submission.

Samantha came to a stop under Cassie's window and used the ladder of the fire escape to tug them both up onto it, pushing Cassie's habitually unlocked window open. "Are you still good?"

"Yep!" She squeaked, holding her body tensely against Samantha's, the pain in her ribs making her wince now. "Just... can we lie down now?" She laughed wearily.

She crawled in ahead of Cassie and offered her hand. "I'm not exactly graceful yet..."

Cassie shook her head, taking Samantha's hand and holding her side with a wince. She wheezed slightly, swaying unsteadily on her feet. "No, you're fine," she smiled brilliantly, if a little unsteadily, "and you're not the one who kicked me in the rubs with a metal boot." She crawled in slowly after Samantha, hissing and lying down stiffly beside her before slowly beginning to relax. "Speaking of which... I think I don't like your mother."

Samantha gave a little wry smirk and settled down next to her. "Join the club. Oh! Speaking of mothers- you need to call yours at some point."

"Oh, crap, mom." Cassie patted her pockets and frowned when she came up empty looking for her phone. "...oh shit, I didn't lose it during the fight, did I?"

Samantha dug into her back pocket and produced Cassie's phone, handing it over. "She may be a couple drinks in by now."

 

"Oh, god," Cassie groaned, dialing the number and holding it up to her ear, listening to it ring. "I am in so much trouble."

Samantha gave a little smirk and stripped out of her jacket, kicking off her shoes and reclining on the bed with her. "Probably not too much, unless she was just fronting for me earlier."

"Wait," Cass covered the bottom of the cellphone as it continued to ring, raising her eyebrows at Sammi. "You talked to my mom? Did she call for me?"

"Well, I figured she would be worried, which was not an altogether bad instinct, so I called her. It's not like the hospital was gonna be able to do that."

Cass grinned dopily over at her girlfriend, grunting as she rolled over towards Sammi, pushed herself up on one hand, and planted a kiss on the girl's cheek. "You are so wonderful. Thank you. And thank you for holding onto my ph--Mom?" Flipping back onto her back, the blonde girl grinned at Sammi as her mother picked up the line. "Yeah, it's me mom. ...Yeah, I'm okay. I think. ...No, it's just my side, mom, my," the blonde girl felt up the new, fadingly-pink skin on her lip and cheek, raising an eyebrow at Samantha seeking confirmation, "my face is already healing. ...no, I think I just overloaded myself. Exhaustion, plus the thunderbolt, equals boom? Unconcious Cassie. ...yeah, I know. I'm sorry mom. I didn't mean to scare you. ...yeah, she's here. She said she called you. ...No, it's okay, we're not- oh, I didn't know it was that late." Cassie's face screwed itself up in confusion mixed with wonder, "...you were, huh? Well, I'm sorry I woke you? Do you wanna go back to bed? ...yeah, I can call you tomorrow. No, Sammi invited me to the Zeta house for a party tomorrow night, but I can call you around lunchtime tomorrow. ...yeah, okay. Um, night, mo-" Cassie blinked as her mom hung up. Turning a bemused face to Samantha, she chuckled. "Mom says she's fine. She said after you told her I was okay she had a drink, read for a while, and went to bed.”

Samantha raised an eyebrow at the side of the conversation she could hear, raising an eyebrow when she hung up. "Well, I'm going to go ahead and consider that a vote of confidence in me." She laid back and slid her hands under her head.

Cass chuckled, snuggling up in under Sammi's shoulder from the side, resting the back of her head on the other girl's shoulder. "I guess so," she said, sending a text off to Lois explaining their sudden departure from the hospital. "...I am sorry, you know," she said after she finished. "To you as much as mum. I didn't mean to scare you." She tilted her face up towards Samantha's. "...what are you thinking?"

She acknowledged Cassie's unnecessary second apology with a nod and by leaning affectionately into the other girl, snuggling down so that Cassie was nestled under her arm. "One day and your mom already has the confidence to relinquish your care to me."

"Well you brought me to a hospital and called my mother: I'd say you take pretty good care of me," Cassie murmured coyly, pressing her lips against Samantha's exposed collarbone. "And I'm completely besotted with you. I think mom figured that out really quick." Batting her eyelashes, she nibbled on the underside of Sammi's neck. "...you still mad at me?"

She gave a little smirk and rolled her eyes in Cassie's direction, turning slightly toward her. "Nope. I scolded you, your mom scolded you, I am quite satisfied that you have been sufficiently scolded."

The blonde girl frowned anyway, though, poking Samantha softly in the tummy. "...you're making the grumpy smirk face, though," she observed with a small smile of her own. "Help me understand what you were so mad about?"

She made a little face, but shifted in order to face her more, playing with her hair. "Well first of all, I wasn't so mad. I just... don't strictly agree with the decision you made. That and if you ever electrify a fountain while you're standing in it I will thump you."

Cass grinned at the last statement before replying to the previous one. "It worked though, didn't it?" She wiggled her eyebrows. But then she sobered up, reaching up to touch Samantha's cheek with her hand, looking up into her eyes. ".. I don't know if I’m understanding this perfectly, but I'm gonna try to see if I'm getting it, and then maybe I can explain why I did what I did." She screwed up her face. "...If you dove in front of a bus, sans powers, to save someone, and you were hit, I would probably be so mad at you, afterwards. But it wouldn't actually be because I was mad at you, because what I would be feeling is blind panic about worrying that I might lose you or that you might be seriously hurt." She opened one eye. "Is that something close to what you're feeling?"

Samantha nodded a little, but made a little face. "Only in this situation, I was hit by the bus, was dragged a block, and then jumped in front of another bus to in the name of inspiring some folks on their commute."

"Oh," Cassie's eyes got big. "You think I did that to... inspire people?"

Samantha frowned a little, cocking her head. "I don't know what you did it for. Reinforcements had arrived, the police force, the other guys in super-armor or whatever, you narrowed the Lexcorp guys down to like three dudes, and you had your face beaten in. You had an opening to leave the fight in the hands of the proper authorities, and instead you had us drag you out there to maybe get seriously hurt, or arrested."

Cassie nodded, listening to what Samantha was saying. "You thought that I had an out, and then I recklessly threw myself back into the fight because I wanted to inspire people. I get it. That makes sense, I would be pissed at me to," she agreed, grimacing. "Totally."

Samantha raised a brow at the way she phrased the question. "But that's not what happened?"

"Well that wasn't what I was trying to do," Cassie explained sheepishly. "I thought that if I didn't get back out there, your mom might use what was left of her security forces to kick the crap out of the protestors. I didn't think those S.T.A.R. Labs suits looked like they could stand up to the Lexcorp ones. I thought that if I didn't go back out there, they'd say they'd gotten me, or the protestors might think I'd abandoned them, and then the commissioner would win by forfeit. ...I didn't think I had a choice. But," she shrugged her shoulders sheepishly again, "...I have a tendency to leap before I look. Maybe you're right, and I did have a choice. I just didn't see it."

"I just wanted you out of there so much; I was soo out of my depth out there. I don't think I understand Metropolis the way I thought I did," Samantha admitted.

Cassie rolled back down into Samantha's arm and rested her head there. She didn't directly respond to the second thing her girlfriend said, instead focusing on the first part of her sentence. "...you know," she said, staring at Samantha's side, watching her chest rise and fall slowly, "the whole time I was out there, I felt you."

Sam raised an eyebrow and turned her head to look at her. "You felt me? Like in a distracty way, or in a moral-support way?"

Cassie smiled, blushingly, starting to feel stupid for mentioning that out loud. "No, like... you were with me, somehow. Inside. Like you had my back, but more. It was kinda like what I used to feel like when I was Diana's side-kick, but more, and better. I felt like you were with me. Even though you weren't."

She gave a little smile and ran her fingers through Cassie's hair. "At least I was good for something today."

Cassie shrugged, feeling stupid and embarrassed. "...that sounded a lot less dumb and embarrassingly clingy in my head," she mumbled.

Samantha chuckled and pressed her face against hers. "Just weird and cute. And you are weird. And you are cute."

Cassie's face broke into a smile when Samantha's face pressed up against hers, and she giggled, shivering with delight and happiness. She sighed, happily sliding her arms over Samantha's shoulders. "...This is my favorite thing you do," she confessed, "Outside of when we have sex... We do great sex," she chuckled. "But this is..." she enjoyed the feeling of Sammi's soft skin against hers, her breath on her cheek, her girlfriend's long lashes fluttering against her skin. "Next best thing.”

She smiled and nuzzled her cheek, snuggling in as close as she could get and running her hands along the ends of Cassie's hair. "Happy to be all up in your space."

Cass pressed her soft cheek against Samantha's lips, resting her forehead against the other girl's temple. She continued to run her own hands through Sammi's hair. "Mmmmm... my space is your space." Turning her head slightly into Samantha's, the blonde girl licked her lips and pressed them firmly but tenderly against Samanth's own cheek. "Thanks for taking such good care of me tonight."

Sam gave a little smirk. "You don't need to thank me. I'm just girlfriending. Making your mother like me."

"My mother thinks you walk on air," Cassie chuckled, smiling contentedly. "You called her from the hospital. You have scored so many mom points that you could spend them indefinitely."

Samantha chuckled and turned her face into her hair. "Mmm, sounds like a good time to coast. What are mom points good for, anyway? My mother doesn't come with a points system."

"Guilt-free trips on which you take her daughter 'skiing in Europe' all winter break?" Cass laughed, shrugging. "I'm just joking. Mom adores you, which I think is fantastic, because I intend to hang on to you." The blonde girl nuzzled along Sammi's cheek and across her ear.

She smirked and turned her head to nibble on Cassie's ear, sliding her fingers through her hair. "Oh yeah skiing, I forgot about the skii plans, what holiday would I be stealing you away from?"

"Midwinter's" Cassie grinned shivering as Sammi nibbled on her ear, sucking in a breath, "Which is actually kinda fun. It's like Christmas, only there is lots of honeyed wine, gift giving, and all the sandy beaches of Paradise Island. We could do that, and then 'go skiing' afterwards."

Samantha made a contemplative face. "While skiing is pretty much my new favorite activity, I do really love the beach."

Cassie chuckled, rolling over onto her side and wrapping her arms around Samantha's waist, kissing Samantha slowly and tenderly on her soft, sweet lips. When she came up for air, she sighed happily and winked into her girlfriend's beautiful blue eyes. "...amazingly, you can go skiing on the beaches of Paradise Island."

Samantha giggled as the metaphor broke under the weight of the conversation and kissed her back, sneaking a hand up her back. "Sounds like the best of both worlds."

"Mmmhmmm...." The blonde girl rested her forehead against Sammi's, shivering excitedly under Samantha's touch. "Mmmmmm, hey now. You start that, and I will not let you leave tonight, party preparations or no party preparations." She winked, and then raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of which..."

She shook her head. "Oh no, I'm solid until morning. I've done all I can do. Besides force my girlfriend to get some beauty sleep so she can be in perfect dancing condition for tomorrow night."

"Oh yeah?" Cassie's eyes lit up, and she smiled broadly, leaning over and planting a single soft kiss on Samantha's lips. "Well then... will you make love to me, Samantha?"

She grinned and kissed her again, pulling her a little closer. "How will that lead to dance-ability restoring sleep exactly?"

Cass giggled, and she slid in closer to Samantha, her own small soft hands sliding up Samantha's back and over her shoulders. “Well, you could call it sexual healing, or we could talk about all the masturbating I'm gonna have to do alone, on my own, with injured ribs after seeing you in that outfit," she teased, dropping her voice to a whispering groan "but really, I just sleep so much better and more peacefully after I've had your pussy in my mouth, and your fingers in mine."

Sam's body gave a little shudder against hers and her head tipped forward, her hands sliding down Cassie's back. Her voice went soft with desire, her resolve to get her girlfriend rest weakening. "Is that so? Well, quality is as important as quantity when it comes to sleep..."

The blonde girl laughed softly, shivering under Samantha's hands as her own slid slowly down over Samantha's shoulders and down the front of her collar. "Mmmmmm...I need your hands on me, and in me, Samantha," she groaned, finding Sammi's soft lips with hers, "I need your mouth everywhere, my breasts, nipples, my clit, my cunt." she brushed her lips against Samantha's, catching her top lip on Sammi's soft pouty bottom one, "I need to taste you, and touch you, and rub my hot, soft body all over yours...." Then she kissed her, deeply and insistently, moaning into her girlfriend's mouth and shivering as she pressed her body against Samantha's, one of her denim-clad legs pushing its way between Samantha's and grinding up against her crotch.

She gave a little groan as Cassie's thigh pressed the material of her snug pants up against her crotch, catching and dragging the lace of her panties across her lips. She returned the kiss slowly at first, and then with growing urgency, her grip tightening as she slid her hands down the back of her jeans. "God, you are literally irresistible," she moaned.

"Then don't try," The blonde girl teased with a hoarse whisper, her lashes fluttering and her green eyes shining as they raced over Samantha's face and gazed longingly into Samantha's eyes, her hands fisting in the front of Samantha's shirt she pushed into the kiss, moaning urgently against the other girl's lips, "just take me, and let me have you." Sammi's soft small hands on her bottom made her body tingle, and she wriggled her ass back against Samantha's hands. Meanwhile, she felt the heat of Samantha's crotch growing against her thigh, and while she continued to rock up against Sammi's pussy her own womanhood began to ache and moisten, causing her to groan and rock her hips suggestively in Samantha's direction.

She moaned softly and slid her fingers around her belt, unbuckling it and tugging it free, dropping it aside. She squeezed her thighs around Cassie's and slid her fingers up her stomach before realizing she couldn't get her shirt off without jostling her rib. She kissed down her neck and popped open the button on her jeans. "I'm up for some sexual healing."

**Author's Note:**

> Super-clone Science stuff: Given the various kinds of tinkering and multi-trial formulae that Lexcorp and Cadmus scientists no-doubt engaged in while trying to produce a viable Super-clone from their small sample of Kryptonian DNA we figure there's no reason that SuperBOY couldn't have been SuperGIRL (keeping in mind that gender isn't automatically tied to genitalia or chromosomes.) A lot of what follows is just speculation about how things might have gone had the Superclone been assigned biologically female at birth. It's also a fantastic excuse to write an awesome ship as femslash. And clones!


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